When the Past comes to Present
by nycm-e-t
Summary: Rated T for future stuff. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi are told that finding Sasuke is as easy as leading a group of Genin. But how does this group tie in with Sasuke and is Naruto willing to sacrifice them to Akatsuki to bring Sasuke back.
1. Introduction time!

Hello! Now, for those of you that read The Future of Konoha, you're going to notice something oddly familiar... I'm using those characters! However, my story is a bit different. Take note, these characters now exist in the same time as Naruto! Also, Orori is not the main character, I prefer third person! Thanks to all those who gave permission to use their characters and even if you didn't reply with a yes or a no, here's your credit.

Orori Zakaru and her family/pets: nycmet_13

Kenji Saito: The Loud Silence Mistress

Nobuhiro Hyoga, the three Uchiha and Mitsuko Hyuga: xxXXILuvRoxasXXxx

Misha Ameterasu: Mashu the Assassin

Yuzuki Haruno: TinhThuyVan (sorry, but I'm going to change Yuzuki's last name so that her abilities won't change Sakura's abilities)

Kai Yoko: 4everDestined

Mai: sistermaraudersjple

Aki Hissori: Aracade

Shiro Krono: Shadowreaper82

Original Naruto characters: Masashi Kishimoto

The teams are as follows: Orori, Kenji, and Nobuhiro. Aki, Shiro, and Kai. Yuzuki, Koshu Uchiha, and Mai. Mitsuko, Haru Uchiha, and Shiniji Uchiha.

Finally, to all character creators, I'm taking writer's liberty and changing some of your characters. Get a glass of water and take a chill pill; if what I do offends you deeply, tell me and I'll change it. If I'm not told, don't expect a change. And here we go... The story begins!

Tsunade was flipping through piles of documents as Team 7 stood before her. Naruto was obviously anxious. Not only had Tsunade sent Sai on a solo mission to track down Sasuke, but two weeks later, she had sent him to help Iruka take care of the Academy students. One whole month gone to waste in Naruto's mind.

"I have a new mission for Team 7," Tsunade said without pause in her task.

"No duh, Granny," Naruto said. Sakura hit him on the head before he could continue.

"This has to do with finding Sasuke," Tsunade continued as if nothing had happened. Everyone froze. The only sound in the room was the rustling of pages on Tsunade's desk.

"Sai has determined-" She was cut off as Naruto shouted for joy.

"Sai, that jerk! He found Sasuke! When Sai comes back I'm going to hug him to death! We're getting Sasuke-" Tsunade threw one of her many stamps at Naruto and hit him square in the face.

"As I was saying," Tsunade said slowly through gritted teeth, "Sai has determined where Sasuke is most likely **headed**!" Naruto's face dropped a bit, but still, knowing where Sasuke might be going was almost as good as knowing where he was.

Tsunade stopped flipping through papers and picked up three packets. "First, you need to know why he might be heading here." She reached across her desk and handed Kakashi what looked like a map. "We have kept this a secret from everyone, but it seems that Sasuke has figured it out somehow."

Naruto craned his neck to look at the sheet of paper, but couldn't see anything no matter how hard he tried. "So, what is this secret?"

"That there were other surviving Uchiha." Sakura and Naruto looked at Tsunade in shock.

"Other Uchiha?! Tsunade, how is that possible?" Sakura asked as she took a step forward.

"These three Uchiha were born in different Ninja Lands," Tsunade explained, "and were brought here when they were only a few years old. They were held up in their travels. Good thing too, or they would have arrived at the Uchiha Estate in time for the massacre. Their parents realized the danger they were in and brought themselves before the Hokage. The Third agreed to hide the children in a town that would be overlooked by most, but protected enough so that if it was noticed, it would be able to protect itself. For 14 years, they've gone unnoticed. However, Sai has found them while searching for Sasuke, which makes us think that they're of certain interest to Sasuke. Sai has reported no movement or signs of Sasuke himself or his team, but he still believes that Sasuke will be returning for them at some point."

"When did you find out about this?" Kakashi asked as he skimmed over the map one last time.

"We first heard from Sai two weeks ago," Tsunade answered.

"TWO WEEKS?!" Naruto screamed in shock.

"Tsunade," Sakura intervened before Naruto lost it. "Don't you think it would have been wiser to have sent us two weeks ago?"

"True," Tsunade said as she stood up. "However, we don't want to give Sasuke a heads-up by throwing you three into the mix too early. The longer we wait, the more likely he'll think it's coincidence."

"And the more likely he'll come and leave before us," Naruto growled, clenching his fists.

"That's why I'm sending you now," Tsunade walked over to them with the three packets still in her hands. "I am assigning you as teachers of these Genin. The two weeks you spent with Iruka will have helped you prepare for this, Naruto."

She handed each one of them a packet. Naruto looked at his and noticed something strange.

"Granny Tsunade, I think you're loosing your sight," Naruto was smacked across the face before he could elaborate.

"You honestly think I would assign you to the three Uchihas?" she stated as she sat down. "Do you want Sasuke to know what's going on the second you step foot in the village?! No, I'm assigning you to a team that has some problems working together. To anyone on the outside, even the students, they'll think that because of their poor behavior, they've been assigned three of the roughest teachers Konoha has. And believe me, you'll need to be rough. Those three can't get along at all!"

Naruto looked at his packet one more time. "So," Sakura began as she looked over her packet too, "you want us to use these Genin to get close to the Uchihas Sasuke's after?"

"Correct," Tsunade smiled from her seat. "However, you will also be expected to reform these three."

"I've never heard of the Hyogas," Naruto interjected.

"Much like the three Uchihas, the Hyogas are a clan that Konoha has tried to keep secret, mainly because they prefer solitude. This is the first time in years that one of their children has joined a Genin group."

"That could be part of the problem," Kakashi rolled up the packet and slid it into one of his vest pockets.

"We'll have time to figure out the problem later!" Naruto said as a grin grew on his face. "So, Granny, when do we get started?"

Tsunade smiled. "You leave in one hour. If there are no problems, you'll make it to the village by nightfall."

Naruto laughed. "Even if there are problems, nothing's gonna stop me from getting there!"

The fifth Hokage shook her head, but even she didn't know what had just begun.

So, was the intro alright? I'm telling you right now, the next chapter is going to be character info. Don't get your hopes up when you see I've updated. Still, please review and tell me what you think. See you next chapter!


	2. Character Page

Ok, here are the character descriptions so you won't get confused as the story goes on!

name : Aki Hissori.

**  
**Age: 13

Parents: Nai Hissori (Deceased Mother), Kuro Akumu (Father)

Birthday: December 31st

birth weight: 4 pounds 6 oz

Birth time : 11 : 59 pm

blood type: AB

Teammates: Shiro Krono and Kai Yoko

Team:3

looks: Fairly Pale skin tone due little exposure to the sun. Surprisingly Bright Violet eyes. A vertical scar starting from the hairline, crosses over her right eye and eye lid (without damage to the eye itself) and ends parallel to her lip. Long black hair tied into a single braid that is wrapped around her neck. Physically, she isn't impressive as she appears to be quite thin yet still enough weight to be healthy and possess some physical strength. Also, she fairly short compared to others her age.

Cloths: Civilian clothing consist of a blank white T-shirt, Black baggy jean shorts, wooden sandals and a large black cloak completed with a straw hat big enough to hide her face in its shade. Combat and Training Gear look like classic ninja attire except for the bandages. Bandages that cover forearms and lower legs are tightly wrapped then wrapped a second time with thin metal containers under them. The Containers hold ten long thin strips of paper. Her face has a cloth mask that covers her nose and lower.

likes: Silence, Silent people, the shade, her clan's paper blade style taijutsu, and children

dislikes: Seeing people in pain, her reflection.

personality: Aki hates to see people suffer. As such, if she can help, she will do it while at the same time drawing next to no attention on herself. She doesn't see herself as being worth anything.

hobbies: Watching children play

History: Aki is a Member of the Hissori Clan. They specialize in assassinations and as such, strive to be the best at it. As a result of this, any member that chooses to become a ninja must take a test. They are physically wounded in a brutally slow fashion by a loved one. During this test, they must not run, or make a sound. Aki passed this test when she was 6 years old, which is actually four years younger then it is post to be taken. She chose to take the test at this age and once passing, has said little to nothing to any of her family.  
The reason behind this is that during her second year of life, she was watching her mother as she practiced using the clan's paper blades when an assassin from another village attacked. Out matched, the assassin took Aki and started using her as a shield. While that act wasn't enough to save his life, it did allow him to score a fatal wound on Aki's Mother. As a result, she was forced to watch her mother die slowly while the woman carried her home. Ever since that day, regardless of the insurances of her clan, she has blamed herself for her mother's death constantly telling her self that if she was worth anything, she could have done something. For her, the scar on her face marked the death of who she was.

ability: Can mold chakra into paper and force it to harden and become sharp as steel as well as link to other pieces of paper.

specialty: Paper Blade Style Taijutsu (basically using paper in place of certain weapons and always striking at vital areas plus attempts to cut into points that would reduce combat ability, Stealth and stealth aiding genjutsu, Chakra Control

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2. name : Kenji Saito

Age: 14

Parents: Yama (dad) and Hikari (mom) Saito

Birthday: July 1

birth weight: 8 pounds 1 oz

Birth time : 1:28 PM

blood type: AB Positive

looks: Jet Black hair with icy blue eyes and a dimple in his right cheek.

Teammates: Nobuhiro Hyoga and Orori Zakaru

Team:13

Cloths: Usually a black t-shirt with a collar and a pair of khaki shorts that has a small version of his clan symbol (a diamond with a circle in the middle) on the bottom right hand corner, and a pair of black ninja sandals.

likes: peace and quiet, when people don't annoy him, when he does well in a exam, thinking, hanging out with his family.

dislikes: Obnoxious and loud people, when nobody pays attention, when everything gets too loud for no reason.

personality: Incredibly smart, knows how to think through a problem, gets annoyed by a lot of people, does well in groups or alone, tons of girls like him, he has a few good friends but he hates it when everyone acts like idiots but he doesn't mind spending time with his family at home.

hobbies: Riding his bike around the village, hanging out at the training grounds, taking some time off in his room, writing short stories, archery, and some swimming.

History: Kenji is the only child of Yama and Hikari Seito; he is quiet in the classroom always diligent with his work and receiving the top grades. He has a few close friends but he dislikes it if they ever get loud or when they never listen to what he has to say that's important. He usually rides his bike and trains for exercise and he usually swims in the summer. He has a LOT of fan girls and actually he has a crush but he doesn't say who. His career option for when he grows up is to be an ANBU captain like his dad.

ability: Chika Kougeki jutsu (Underground Attack)

specialty: He has the "Chika Kougeki" jutsu, a jutsu when he can go underground and attack anywhere from there without being detected from the enemy, then he attacks from shooting up from the ground, attacking the enemy with slight amounts of chakra. It's incredibly strong, affecting the chakra system and the regular human body system. Also, for a regular specialty, he's the captain of his Archery team in the academy

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name : Orori Zakaru

  
Age: 13

Parents: Atame Soone (mom) and Shuma Zakaru (dad)

Birthday: March 18

Teammates: Nobuhiro Hyoga and Kenji Saito

Team:13

birth weight: 6 pounds and 8 ozs

Birth time : 5:42 a.m.

blood type: o

looks: Shoulder length black hair with a purple streak. Gentle face features with sky blue eyes. She's a little short for her age.

Cloths: An Ivy green dress/skirt that goes a little past the waist and a white short-sleeve shirt under it. gray shorts under the dress. Her headband is on her right arm.

likes: Books, painting, swimming, and animals.

dislikes: Blood, Maru and her dad, and perverted or rude people.

personality: Caring, but insecure about herself. It's hard to anger her, but if you do, hell will pay.

hobbies: She paints, reads, plays with stray animals or her friends and swims.

History: When she was born, her dad was upset that she wasn't a boy, like her older brother, Maru. As she grew up, her father and brother would always yell at her for being a terrible ninja and squirming at the sight of blood. Her mom would treat her kindly and told her she was fine the way she was. When she was 6, her mom gave her a puppy she named Fluff. A week later, her mom died during a b-rank mission. When Orori found out, she went to her room and cried. Maru came in, called her a cry baby, and kicked Fluff into a wall, killing it. When she was 8, she met Ling, a boy with a huge cricket for a pet. He befriended her and got her to start thinking she might really be worth something. At 12, she and Ling became ninja, but her father just yelled at her for not passing at the top of the class like Maru. Ling stood up for her, but nothing changed. Now, she's still quite, Maru's still mean, and her dad still praises Maru and yells at her (especially when she brings stray animals home).

ability: she can understand animals, but she can't control them like Maru can.

specialty: disguising herself as anything or anyone (and for what it's worth, drawing).

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name: Nobuhiro Hyoga

Age: 14

Parents: Zhou Hyoga (father) Mother ranaway (alive)

Gender: Male

Teammates: Orori Zakaru and Kenji Saito

Team: 13

Appearance: Black hair and dark blue-green eyes. Wears black shirt with red lightning strike symbol on back and blue blue pants.

Personality: very Very cold but deep deep deeper in his heart he's good. He can be nice sometimes.

Likes: nothing. Animals. Missy and Tornado his two dogs.

Dislikes: clan, Hyuga and Uchiha Clan. Being bullied by the Hyugas and Uchihas

Hobbies: beating up people. drawing. food. cooking. insulting people. training

History: It'll take away his mysteriousness!

Specialty: Ninjutsu

Bloodline: The Byukagan and Sharingan. (Learn about it later). The abilty to use lightning and sound but with the use of Charka to control it. so no charka he will past out. Over use it he'll go into a coma.

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**5. **Name: Shiro Krono

Age: 13

Parents: Hana Krono (dead) Ryu

Birthday: March 27

Birth weight: 11 pounds

Birth time: 8:45 pm

Blood type: AB

Team:3

Teammates: Aki Hissori. and Kai Yoko

Looks: Spiky Blue Hair with headband around his head like naruto. Has a yellow eye with markings like hours on a clock and a then a normal blue eye.

Clothes: Has a red scarf that covers his lower half of his face just below his nose. Has a blue shirt with the selves cut off. On his Right arm he has a gaunlet that complety covers his right hand. He has a fingerless glove on his left hand. He has some black baggy pants with wrapings around his ankels (like Gaara and Zabuza) with black ninja sandles. Has a blakc belt around his waist wiht a scroll in the back of his belt its longer than regular but not as big as a summoning scroll.

Likes: Tranning, his sword, fire jutsus, and sparing

dislikes: Torute of people, being unable to help his freinds and family.

personality: Calm, Caring, shy around cute girls, good natured, and has a bit of a temper if u hurt his friends.

Hobbies: Tranning, learning fire jutsus, and hanging with friends doing a whole lot of nothing

History: His mother died shortly after his birth and his father left before Shiro was born. Shiro lives with his Uncle Kai Krono now. A Jounin at the villag. Wear the tradiotan Jounin outfit. Kai has red hair that looks like kakashi's only staright up instead of cruveing to the side.

Ability: He has a special blood line limit from his mother side of the family form their yellow eye. It allows them to stop time around certain things. Like kunai's knifes thrown at Shiro he can stop some Kunai's thrown at him, but the stronger he gets the bigger the object he can stop briefly.(I don't know if your taking bloodline limits or not but if you don't want to use this or not its up to you)

Specialty: He's good at fire jutus. The scroll on his belt holds his sword. A katana with a red and blue handle. He's likes to train with his sword and tries to get better at it.

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**6. **First and last name : Yuzuki Haruno

Age: 13

Parents: Kana Haruno (decreased) Kyo Haruno (decreased)

Birthday: October 20

birth weight: 12 pounds

Birth time : 7:59 A.M.

blood type: AB

looks: long black hair and royal purple eyes

Team:23

Teammates: Koshu Uchiha and Mai

Cloths: white dress with long sleeves

likes: butterflies

dislikes: nosy people

personality: calm, collected, mysterious

hobbies: training and reading

History: Yuzuki was picked to trained by the elders of the Haruno clan to become a strong ninja and protect the honor of the clan. She was trained to never fail which cost her to be a loner. The Haruno clan have lived iin secrets until the day the heir/heiress proved the honor of the clan. Yuzuki is the heiress.

ability: chakra, control white butterflies

specialty: charka control, Genjutsu, and Kinjutsu

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**10. **Name: Kai Yoko (or Yoko Kai, sounds better like that)

Parents: Yoko Nazomi and Yoko Kisho

Age: 13

Birthday: Jan. 21

team:3

Teammates: Aki Hissori.and Shiro Krono

Birth Weight: 5 pounds 4oz

Birth Time: 12 o clock midnight

Blood Type: AB Positive

Looks: He has read hair that reaches above ears, light brown eyes, tanned skin. He's average height. He has a scar in the middle of his back (more on that in the history)

Clothes: Black knee shorts, a plain blue tight fitted short sleeve shirt to help with moving without being caught. Blue Ninja sandals.

Likes: Dango, Traveling, Missions

Dislikes: newly formed genin that are full of themselves.

Personality: Polite, Intelligent, a good strategist

Hobbies: Reading, working on his chakra control, running.

History: Yoko Kai was found during a mission 12 years ago in the rain country, crying. He was brought back to Konoha by a group of Jounin who was sent to the country to retrieve a scroll. No one knows who his parents are, or what happened to then. A thin large scar covered his lower back, how it got there was a mistery. He was adopted by a Yoko Nozomi and a Yoko Kisho. Real Parent: Orochimaru but the snake bastard soon died after impregnating a women.

Ability: Healing, summon snakes.

Specialty: Chakra control, Strategy

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**11.**Name: Mai

Age: 13

Parents: unknown

Birthday: July 5

Birth weight: unknown

Birth time: 12:01 AM

Blood type: AB

Team:23

Teammates :Yuzuki Haruno and Koshu Uchiha

Looks: Dark green eyes, brown hair always tied up in a different style, looks friendly

Clothes: Dark green tank top with a stripe going from the top of the left to the bottom of the right, black baggy boyish shorts

Likes: weapons, fighting, the wind, rain, shade (as in under a tree)

Dislikes: Read her personality.

Personality: If you're her friend, you're her best friend. If you're not her friend, she's your worst enemy. She's very sarcastic, and a very talented kunoichi.

Hobbies: Reading, training, shopping

History: Mai comes from the Yume Clan, literally, the Dream Clan, mysteriously massacred by one of their own members 13 years ago, when Mai was born. Nobody knows the reason that Mai survived, but she never knew her parents. The Hokage found her hidden deep within the rubble and such of the remains of where the Yume Clan Household once proudly stood, and took her under his/her care. Mai possesses the power to read thoughts and has perfect charka control, courtesy of her clan.

Ability: Read thoughts, perfect charka control, sarcasm, weapons expert, genius

Specialty: Sarcasm, weapons expert, genius at plotting strategies

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**12. **Name: Koshu Uchiha

Parents: Ko Uchiha (mom)

Age: 13

team:

teammates: Yuzuki Haruno and Mai

Gender: Male

Appearance: Fishnet shirt, black pants, black shoes, dark blue jacket with the Uchiha symbol in the middle.

Personality: Loud, class clown, but smart.

Likes: Training, sparing, eating, bulling .Hanging with Haru and Shinji.

Dislikes: cold days, rejection, Hyoga clan

Hobbies: Training practicing with swords and eating and **Trying** to sing

History: born in lightning country but his parents brought him to konoha to have a better life but his parents were killed after they brought him to Konoha for betraying the Raikage. Now living on his own.

Special: a little above average in taijutsu and ninjutsu but suck in genjutsu. faster than most people his age

Bloodline: Sharingan.

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**13. **Name: Mitsuko Hyuga

Age: (13)

Parents: Tena and Neil Hyuga

Gender: (Female)

team:14

teammates: Haru Uchiha and Shiniji Uchiha

Appearance: Dark brown hair, tied into a bun-like, jacket with Hyuga symbol, ankle has a flower on her hair, for her passion of Flowers. White eyes.

Personality: Kind, sweet and caring. But sometimes helps with bulling Nobuhiro.

Likes: Flowers, Music, and hiding from her Nobuhiro(sometimes)

Dislikes: Mean people, being a Nobuhiro(sometimes). Hyoga

Hobbies: Picking flowers from her garden.

History: Very loyal to her family, and the Heir of her clan, because she is capable of having humanity.

Specialty: Ninjutsu

Bloodline: Byukagan

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First and Last Name: Haru Uchiha

Age: 13

Parents: Hikari and Horoshi Uchiha

Team: 14

Teamates:Shiniji Uchiha and Mitsuko Hyuga

Gender: male

Apperance: Black hair in short pony-tale, bright green eyes, pale skin, black long sleeve shirt with many unnoticeable pockets(for weapons etc.), beige shorts with beige weapons pouch, and blue standard ninja sandals.

Personality: Cheerful, Loud, Hot-head(but in no means optimistic) logical, and loves a good adventure.

Likes: Stormy weather, he can be found outside in a sheltered cove watching it.

Dislikes: Overly optimistic/pessimistic people and sushi. Plus squirrles.

Hobbies: Reading his novels after a good day of training.

History: When he was six he was attacked by killer squirrles so ever since then he has a great fear of them. Has two older siblings that love to tease him. Mother died when he was two so he doesn't miss her. Father is a bisexaul.

Specialty: Fire justu.

Bloodline: Sharingan

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**15.** Name: Shiniji Uchiha

Age: 14

Parents: Uchiha Saosuke and Rai Uchiha

Birthday: 23rd August

Blood type:AB

team:14

Teammates: Mitsuko Hyuga and Mitsuko Hyuga

Likes: Being with his friends and challenges. leading the bulling of Nobuhiro.

Dislikes: morons.

Personality: Tends to be like Sasuke except more social towards people.

Looks: Looks like a miniature Sasuke except his eyes are green like his mother's. He wears a black high collar shirt with the Uchiha fan symbol on the back, black shorts, black ninja sandals and bandages on his arms and legs.

Abilities: Sharingan, Katon jutsus, Chidori(Can only use once a day currently)

Background: Leads a rather normal shinobi life, he is currently a plans on becoming an ANBU captain when he is is quite smart and is known to have first activated the Sharingan when he was 8.

Others: His hobby is training, his favorite food is Dango and, like Kakashi and Obito before him, tends to arrive late.

Trust me, as time goes on, you'll see these characters change from their descriptions. When that happens, I'll edit this to make it more accurate. However, also trust that I will try my hardest to keep these characters as their creators intended, but most of them will not remain as they are now. Once again, any changes happen, I'll edit this page. To all creators, sorry, but sometimes that's just how it goes. See you later! Review please!


	3. They're the Genin?

Ok, so here it is. Let's meet some people!

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"Guys, we need to hurry!" Naruto rushed ahead of Sakura and Kakashi. Nothing could stop him from getting this mission underway. They had already lost time by camping out rather than reaching the town at night. Naruto couldn't stand this waiting any longer. If taking care of these Genin was all it took to bring Sasuke back, so be it!

During his mad rush through the streets of town, Naruto wasn't really looking ahead of him, so it was no surprise when he ran into someone. Pet food went flying everywhere. Sakura and Kakashi sped up to help Naruto and the boy pick up the bags he'd dropped.

Naruto wasn't really helping; he was grabbing the spilled food and opened bags and shoving them into the boy's arms. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Naruto couldn't stop apologizing.

"Naruto!" Sakura finally yelled. "At this rate, you're going to bury him!"

He turned and saw what she meant. The boy was covered in ripped bags. Naruto quickly removed them while apologizing even more.

"Don't worry," the boy said as he removed the last bag. He had crumbs all over his clothes and stuck in his bright red hair, but he didn't seem to care. His Hiate-ate headband was sliding over his eyes, but he still had a big grin on his face. As he pushed his headband back into place, he took a better look at who he had run into. His grin turned into a curious stare when he saw the three.

"I've never seen you guys before," he stated matter-of-factly.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "I'd find it strange if you had seen us before."

The boy still seemed confused. Sakura smiled at him and offered a hand. "We just arrived. We're here to take over a Genin cell."

"Ah," The boy took Sakura's hand and bowed after standing up. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Kai Yoko. I'm a Genin, too, so I probably know who you're talking about. I'd be happy to help you find them!"

Sakura returned his bow. "Thank you for the offer, Kai, but I think we've caused you trouble enough."

Naruto had gathered all of the bags and faced Kai to offer them to him. As Kai, took the bags, Kakashi asked, "Could you tell us anything important about this group? We only have facts, not opinions. Their group number is 5."

Instantly, Kai answered. "That group has Orori Zakaru, Kenji Saito and Nobuhiro Hyoga. Orori's a friend of mine. She's really nice and visits my parent's shop a lot. I'm not sure how good a ninja she is, but I know Kenji is amazing. He's really good when it comes to fighting. Pretty nice, too. Not like Nobuhiro."

"What do you mean?"

It seemed like he didn't want to answer, but Kai finally said, "Well, from what I've seen and heard, he's... not the nicest Genin around." There was a pause, but then that big grin was back on Kai's face. "Still, I can't believe they had to call in **three** new teachers for their cell. I mean, I knew they weren't getting along, but this...." He stopped there and smiled at everyone. "Well, hopefully you can whip them into shape!" Kai leaned in as if what he was about to say was a big secret. "I heard that if they don't clean up their act soon, they'll be forced to resign as ninja!"

Naruto stared in shock. He hadn't read all of the packets yet, but he doubted that they were seriously that bad.

They said goodbye to Kai and continued towards the town's main building. It closely resembled the Hokage's building, only much smaller and more orange rather than red. This building was very close to the entrance and from the top, you could probably see the entire town with one look.

As Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi walked in, they saw a teacher at the building entrance. When he saw them coming, he ran to them and quickly asked, "Are you the new teachers for Team 5?"

"You bet we are!" Naruto shouted with his signature finger jab.

The teacher fell to his knees crying. "Oh thank God above! I don't know how much longer I could've lasted!" He stood, tears falling from his eyes. "If you just fail them on the spot, no one will blame you." Then he ran away as fast as he could.

The three exchanged glances. "So," Naruto began, "why is everyone being so hard on this group?"

"Didn't you read, Naruto?" Sakura scolded him. "This team has been through four different cell leaders!"

"How long have they been Genin?"

"One month," Kakashi said as he entered the building.

"WHAT?!" Naruto couldn't believe his ears. To go through four cell leaders in one month didn't mean you were bad; it meant you were **horrible**! What was causing the team to act like this?

They had sent a note saying they would meet their new team today in this building on the top floor. When the three arrived, it wasn't hard to tell which room they were in.

"Take it back!" a boy's voice shouted from down the hall. Right after the shout, something broke.

The sound was followed by a girl's voice, saying, "Kenji, stop! It's not important!"

Naruto wanted to run into the room, but Kakashi stopped him. The three slowly walked down the hallway. As they walked, the violent sounds seemed to get stronger. By the time they reached the room, nothing could be heard over the sound of wood breaking and punches landing.

Kakashi calmly opened the door. The desks that had been in the room were broken; some had been reduced to splinters. In one corner, a girl had her arms covering her head and face while a brown fox growled at the ongoing brawl. One boy in the fight seemed exhausted, but the other was acting like nothing was happening. The tired boy, teeth gritted and fists clenched, charged at the other with a battle cry. It was obvious that he was putting forth a lot of energy. The other one, however, was dodging and countering as if he had just joined the fight. Naruto was amazed. The two were very talented for Genin; their fighting styles very different but adapting to the attacks the other dished out. However, their fighting did have some problems. For one thing, they were teammates and shouldn't be fighting in the first place. Secondly, a classroom was not the right place for a fight. And finally, they had put their innocent teammate in danger.

As the tired boy readied another punch, Kakashi ran in and grabbed their arms in his hands. Both struggled against Kakashi's grip. The calm one quickly gave up while the other continued fighting against Kakashi.

Naruto and Sakura went over to the girl. She was lowering her arms now that the noise and violence had stopped. When she saw them coming to her side, she brushed her hair behind her ears. It fell right back in place, however. The fox at her feet continued growling until she bent down and whispered something to it.

When Naruto and Sakura finally reached her, she bowed and introduced herself. "Thank you for stopping the fight. My name is Zakaru Orori! Are you here to tell us about our new teacher?"

Kakashi walked over, still holding one of the boys. "Actually," he said, "We're going to be your new teachers."

The room was still for a minute. Even the boy Kakashi had a hold on stopped squirming.

"You mean teacher**s**?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so," Sakura said.

"Kakashi!" Naruto suddenly shouted. "Why are you still holding that kid? Let him go!"

Kakashi realized he was still holding the kid and quickly let him go. The boy shook his wrists to get the blood flowing again. No one was smiling. Everybody knew that having to call in three teachers for one group of Genin was beyond bad. The silence continued for a long time.

"Well," Kakashi finally said, "if we're going to be a team, we might as well get to know one another! I'll start. My name is Hatake Kakashi and I am your Jonin leader."

One of the boys quickly turned to face Kakashi. "You're Hatake Kakashi? And you're going to lead our cell?"

"Yup!" Kakashi said.

"Yeah, right!" Naruto shouted. He turned and faced the boy. "He says he'll lead your cell, but all he's going to do is keep you waiting for hours and never teach you anything!"

"Is that really what you think of me, Naruto?" Kakashi sighed.

"Ahem!" Everyone turned to Sakura. "We're getting off track."

"Alright then. Sakura, introduce yourself!" Naruto gestured toward Sakura as if she were going to pour out her soul right then and there.

Sakura shot him a look before continuing. "My name is Haruno Sakura and I will be your Chunin leader."

Two of the students nodded in recognition while one of the boys continued to ignore all of them.

The other boy turned to Naruto and asked, "So, if Kakashi-san is our Jonin teacher and Sakura-sensei is our Chunin teacher, what does that make you?"

"That makes me Uzumaki Naruto: future Hokage and you Genin instructor!" Naruto struck a pose. He seemed to be waiting for the three students to gasp in awe or maybe bow down before his awesomeness. What he wasn't expecting was for one of them to chuckle at his statement. Naruto glared at the boy who had been silent until now.

The boy met Naruto's glare. "A Genin teaching other Genin? Has the Hokage finally lost it?"

Sakura clenched her fists at this. "Tsunade-sama has chosen Naruto because of his skills as a ninja. In fact, the only reason Naruto is not a Chunin is because he spent three years training under Jiraya-sama and missed the Chunin exams."

The other boy and Orori were impressed by this, but the one who had insulted the Hokage shrugged it off. "She still should have sent someone of proper ranking."

"So!" Kakashi quickly stepped in. If the teachers got in a fight with the student, things would certainly go down hill fast. "Now that the teachers have said something about themselves, why don't we here from the students?" He turned to face the girl. "I think you've already given your name?"

"Oh, yes." She bowed out of politeness. "My name is Zakaru Orori. I live with my father and my older brother. They're both Jonin rank. I'm 13 years old and this is my one of my pets, Kitsu."

Kitsu nodded her head. It seemed as if she understood what was going on.

Orori gave a small gasp. "I talked too much, didn't I?"

"Not at all, Orori!" Kakashi grinned under his mask. "The whole point is to get to know each other and that's just what you're doing!" Orori smiled when he said that.

Kakashi turned to face the next student. "You were surprised that I was going to be your teacher. What's your name?"

The boy seemed embarrassed at Kakashi's statement but quickly answered. "My name is Saito Kenji. I am 14 years old, my dad is a member of ANBU, my mom was never trained as a ninja and I have..." He paused for a second as he counted something on his fingers. "Well, I've got a lot of siblings and their shinobi ranks vary."

"Ah!" Kakashi realized. "You're one of Yama's kids! I've worked with him and one or two of his children. Quite a man to live up to."

Kenji smiled. "All of my siblings are aspiring to the ANBU level, why not me?" Naruto and Sakura smiled with him. Orori and Kenji seemed easy to get along with, so the problem had to be-

"And what about you?" Kakashi asked in a pleasant voice. "What's your name?"

The boy quickly glanced at him and said, "Hyoga Nobuhiro. 14. Two siblings."

Kakashi didn't have to look to know that Kenji was glaring at Nobuhiro. They had only met the team 5 minutes ago and it was already obvious where the problem was.

"Ok, then," Kakashi said as he turned to the other four. "Orori, Kenji, Nobuhiro, you three have been Genin long enough to know what's expected of you. Tomorrow, we'll meet at this buildings entrance and start our missions from there. That's it for today."

The students started heading towards the door when Kakashi interrupted. "Oh, it seems we don't have a room booked for us."

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at Kakashi.

"You mean to tell me," Sakura growled, "that even though the Hokage had two weeks to prepare this mission, she didn't book a room fro us?!"

"Well, actually," Kakashi said, "I told her I'd take care of the housing situation-"

"And she let you?!" Naruto screamed.

Kenji and Orori lingered to see what would happen, but Nobuhiro pushed past them and headed towards the stairs. Kenji shot him a look before turning back to the unfolding chaos.

Sakura threw her hands up in frustration. "So where are we supposed to stay while we're leading this group?"

As if entering a state of great thought, Kakashi placed his hand under his chin while he 'thought' about what to do in this 'predicament'.

"Well," he began as he turned to face the students, "if there are no objections, it would probably be easiest to stay at one of our students' houses."

Sakura caught on to what Kakashi was doing. "Kakashi, suddenly having to take care of three more people is a huge burden and we really shouldn't put them through that."

"You have a point, Sakura," Kakashi said. "Well, we could always hope that there's a hotel room open. Although, I don't have the faintest idea where one would be."

"Now that's just irresponsible!" Naruto interrupted. "You didn't even look for one?"

"Like you would have done more," Sakura said through gritted teeth. She elbowed him in the gut using one of her chakra powered hits. Naruto fell over in a way that seemed like he would never get up ever again.

"So," Kakashi said to a now stunned Kenji and Orori, "I guess we'll just go searching for a hotel now."

Orori started to say something, but then turned to Kenji and whispered something to him. After listening to her, Kenji nodded and turned to their teachers.

"Well, if you guys don't mind splitting up, one of you could stay at each of our houses."

"How perfect!" Kakashi started walking towards them with a smile under his mask. "Well, since I have a history of missions with your father, Kenji, it would be nice to catch up with him. I'll stay at your house. Sakura, you can stay at Orori's house," Sakura and Orori smiled at one another, "and Naruto, you may want to start running or Nobuhiro will leave you on the street."

"He'll leave you on the street even if you catch up to him," Kenji mumbled. Kakashi stared at him for a second and then turned to his fellow teachers. You guys may want to start heading to your respective houses. We have an important day tomorrow."

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When Kenji opened the door to his house, Kakashi was bombarded with all sorts of sounds associated with family life. There were children of all ages running around the house while their mother and some other siblings helped her set the table. When Kenji's mom looked up, she smiled and went to give him a hug.

"You're late, Kenji," she said as she broke the hug.

"Mom," Kenji gestured towards Kakashi, "this is one of my new teachers, Hatake Kakashi."

She seemed a little confused when Kenji said teachers, but shook Kakashi's hand anyway. "Yama has told us all about your missions together."

"He's told me all about you on our missions," Kakashi said.

A crying sound came from another room. Kenji's mom sighed and excused herself.

"Kakashi-san, come make yourself comfortable," Kenji said as he took a seat at the dinner table. Kakashi sat next to him and the rest of the family started sitting.

"So you're going to be teaching little Kenji," one of the older brothers said.

"Akihiko! I haven't seen you in ages," Kakashi said.

"Nice to see you, too," Akihiko smiled.

"You worked with Akihiko?" a young boy asked Kakashi.

"Are you really Hatake Kakashi?" another asked.

"You're going to teach Kenji?" yet another asked.

"Kakashi, maybe I should just introduce you to everyone," Kenji suggested. "You know Akihiko and Shin. The next oldest is Taro, then Eiji, Ryota, me, Fumio, Masayuki, Jun, Kaede, Ryota, Tsutomu and finally, Yuudai."

"What about Kyo and Eri?" Tsutomu asked.

"They're not here yet," Kenji explained.

"Well, here they are!" Kenji's mom came in holding a baby in each arm. "Shin, Akihiko, can you please take them from me?"

As they took the twin infants, Kakashi realized something.

"Hikari," Kakashi said. Kenji's mom turned to face Kakashi. "Is Eri..."

"I know!" Hikari smiled. The rest of the Saito family smiled as well. "Eri is our first girl!"

"Yama must be ecstatic," Kakashi said with a grin. "He's always wanted a little girl to look after.

"So have we!" Taro said as he wiggled his finger for Eri to play with.

"Where is Yama?" Kakashi realized that his ANBU friend hadn't gotten home yet.

"Yama was called away on a mission." Hikari seemed worried as she continued, "Akihiko and Shin have been asked to join him in two days."

Shin began feeding Eri with a bottle. "It's nothing to worry about."

"We've definitely had to go on tougher missions," Akihiko agreed.

"Still, a mother is allowed to worry about her family," Hikari insisted.

"Of course you can worry," Kenji piled food on his plate as he spoke. "All we're saying is that there's nothing to worry about!"

She rolled her eyes, but Hikari sat down to eat anyway. She had faith in Kakashi and knew that he wouldn't let any harm come to her son. Besides, she thought, he was only a Genin. Nothing serious can happen.

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Orori searched through her pockets trying to find her missing house key. Things had been quiet on her walk home with Sakura. They had talked a bit, but not much. Finally, she found the key and opened the door. Kitsu rushed in, quickly followed by Orori. Sakura stepped into the small apartment and looked around. Right away, she saw two men sitting at a table, both wearing Jonin uniforms.

"You're late, Orori," the older one said, glaring at her as she approached them.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Orori bowed when she apologized. Sakura wondered if this strict atmosphere was what made Orori so quiet and polite.

The other man, obviously her brother, turned from his dinner, looked towards the doorway and saw Sakura standing there. "Who's that?"

"This is one of my new teachers, Sakura-sensei," Orori explained. "She doesn't have a place to stay, so I offered our house."

She was cautious when she explained the situation to her family. She seemed very worried that they would disapprove.

Orori's brother shrugged. "Let her stay, Dad. It'll be the one useful thing she does for her cell."

"Maru!" Orori's father glanced between Orori and Sakura. He stood and walked right past Orori to Sakura. "We would be honored to house you during your stay. However, there isn't much room in our apartment. Would you mind sharing a room with Orori?"

Sakura looked at Orori as if to see if it was alright. Orori wasn't even paying attention. She and Maru were staring at one another. An evil grin formed on Maru's face and Orori took a step backwards. Kitsu began growling as if she were going to attack Maru. He glared at the fox, but soon turned his gaze back to Orori.

"Sure," Sakura looked back at Orori's father. "I'd be happy to share a room with Orori." Sakura put emphasis on the last part so that Maru could hear her. He turned to face her and rose from his chair with a sigh.

"Thank you for being so understanding." Their father bowed as he said those words. "Orori," he suddenly turned and headed towards a small hallway, "Go to bed. Don't keep Sakura-san up."

Orori bowed as her dad walked past her. Maru grinned at this. As the two headed down the same hallway their father had gone down, Sakura heard Maru whisper, "You're not off the hook yet," just before he opened a door. Orori continued walking until she reached another door. Sakura followed her into the room. Kitsu ran to a far corner and began quietly barking at something. When she looked closer, Sakura saw that it was another animal; it was a ferret that seemed to just be waking up. It listened to Kitsu's barking and when Kitsu had finished, the ferret turned to Sakura and nodded its head in recognition.

Orori was pulling out an extra sheet and pillow from her closet when she saw Sakura staring at her second pet. "That's Etto. Etto, this is Sakura." Etto nodded again before curling up to sleep again. Kitsu curled up next to Etto and soon the two were fast asleep.

Orori finished laying the sheets out and said, "You can sleep on the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"You don't have to," Sakura began but was interrupted.

"I'm not doing this because my father said to. I'm doing this because it's the polite thing to do."

Sakura sighed and began unpacking her pajamas. When the two were settled and ready to fall asleep, Sakura felt the urge to ask, "What did Maru mean when he said you weren't off the hook?"

There was pause, then a sigh and finally a reply. "Maru likes playing pranks on me because I scare easily. He normally doesn't prank me when guests are around, but sometimes, he can't help himself."

"You should tell him to back off," Sakura said. "I used to get pushed around like that, but when I started really focusing on becoming a better shinobi, I got a lot more confident about myself."

A silence fell in the room for a moment before Orori replied. "Well, there's a difference between you and me." She paused again before finally saying, "I never wanted to be a shinobi."

This caught Sakura off guard. "If you didn't want to be a shinobi, why-"

"My dad threatened to disown me if I didn't," Orori began sobbing. "When my mom was around, he wouldn't say stuff like that. But ever since she died, he's forced me to be a shinobi even though he knows I;m scared of blood."

Sakura slide off of the bed and sat by Orori's side. She couldn't think of any words to comfort her, so Sakura just let her cry into her lap.

Finally, she said, "Well, even though you don't want to be a shinobi, you're here now. Why not make the best of it?" Orori was still sniffling, so Sakura continued. "Besides, if you hadn't become a ninja, do you think you would have met me? Or Kenji?"

The room grew silent as Orori thought about this. "No," she finally said, "I never would have met you or Kenji or Nobuhiro."

Sakura was slightly shocked at the mention of Nobuhiro. "Are you happy you met Nobuhiro?"

"Yeah," Orori said. "Even though he's kind of mean, I know he's got a soft side. I mean, I haven't seen it, but he can't be all bad." She paused before she said, "Plus, I once saw him pick up a bird that broke its wing. He started taking it home, but when he saw me looking at him, he handed the bird to me and told me to take care of it. Even though he wasn't nice to me about it, he wanted to help the bird. Anyone who's nice to animals is alright by me. I just wish he and Kenji could get along."

Sakura smiled and hugged Orori. If Orori was willing to reach out to both teammates, maybe there was hope for this team yet.

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"I said wait up!" Naruto shouted as Nobuhiro continued walking. Naruto had searched all over town before he'd finally found Nobuhiro and now the young boy wouldn't stop for Naruto to catch up.

Nobuhiro opened a gate and shut it behind him. It took a while for Naruto to realize that they had finally reached Nobuhiro's house. He looked at the house and his jaw fell to the floor. Naruto hadn't realized that the Hyoga clan was so big. Behind the gates was what looked like another town and in the center was a huge mansion type house. Naruto walked up to the gates and tried to open them. Immediately, two Hyoga guards stood before him. They were in a fighting pose that Naruto had only seen Hyugas use.

They wasted no time. "State your name and business with the Hyoga clan," one of them said right away.

"I'm here with Nobuhiro!" Naruto began explaining. "I'm one of his new teachers and my lazy sensei didn't book a hotel, so we decided to each stay with one of our students."

"Then tell us," the other guard said, "why didn't Nobuhiro-san tell us you were coming?"

Naruto knew better than to say, "Because he's an ass," but no other reasons were coming to mind. Fortunately, he was saved by a certain someone who happened to be passing by.

"It seems as if you are in quite a mess, Yosomono-san," a lovely voice said from the other side of the gate. "Stand down, guards. I will vouch for him."

"But Hyoga-san!"

The woman looked the guard directly in the eye and repeated, "Stand down."

Reluctantly, the guards relaxed and opened the gate for Naruto. He entered quickly and thanked his savior.

"Thanks a lot!" Naruto grinned at her and she smiled back.

The guards glared at him. "Do you have no manners? Bow before Lady Hyoga."

"Stop it," Lady Hyoga commanded. The guards grew silent but continued to eye Naruto suspiciously. "Please, come with me, Mr…"

"Oh, Uzumaki Naruto," This time, Naruto bowed when addressing her. "At your service, Hyoga-san!"

"You can call me Izanami, if you want," Lady Hyoga said as they walked away.

"Alright then!" Naruto couldn't stop smiling. When those guards had threatened to attack him, he made the assumption that all Hyogas were sons of a-word-that-he-couldn't-say. If Izanami hadn't been there, he would probably be on the streets still thinking that they were sons of that-word.

Their walk towards Nobuhiro's house was silent. Finally, Naruto couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Izanami-chan, you seem to hold a lot of power. I mean, those guards were going to kill me! But when you told them to stop, they acted like the head of the Hyoga clan was telling them to stop!"

Izanami laughed. "For all your insight, Naruto-kun, you're quite blind to the obvious."

Naruto still didn't seem to understand, so Izanami decided to elaborate. "I am the wife of the head of the Hyoga clan."

"Really?!" Naruto stopped walking and stared at her in disbelief. "But you're way too young to be married!"

An immense amount of laughter kept Izanami from moving forward. "Naruto-kun, I am old enough to have raised three children! Although, I am still raising them, but for you to think I was so young!"

Naruto smiled at Izanami. "It makes sense that you're the head's wife! I mean, the head has to know everyone in the clan, right? So of course you'd know where Nobuhiro lives!"

"That," Izanami agreed, "and the fact that I am his mother."

Naruto was physically thrown aback by this fact. He didn't even know where to begin.

"But- but you're- you're really nice! And you don't look like him at all! And- and you're really nice!"

The laughter left Izanami's face and she suddenly grew very sad.

She began walking again while she explained the reason for their differences. "Nobuhiro and I don't look alike," she whispered, "because I did not give birth to him. His really mother was Zhou's first wife. However, when he turned four, his mother disappeared. Almost the entire Hyoga clan, even Zhou himself, spent days searching for her, but they never found her.

"I think Nobuhiro resents the fact that I'm trying to be his mother now," she finished explaining to Naruto. Izanami walked up the steps to the largest house in the Hyoga village and knocked on the door. As it was opened from the inside, she turned to Naruto and smiled.

"He may give you a hard time," Izanami said, "but try not to treat him poorly because of it. He's had to go through a lot in his life; things that have left him hurt. Please treat him nicely. For me?"

Naruto nodded. "I'll look after him, Izanami-chan. Don't worry about that."

She smiled and walked through the doorway. When Naruto entered, he had to pause and look around. The first room in the house could have been a house all by itself. There were half a dozen doors and a staircase, all of which gave the impression that they, too, lead to rooms just as glorious and gigantic.

"I could get used to living here," Naruto said as he stepped forward.

"Ahem!" Naruto quickly turned towards the manservant who had coughed in his direction. He nodded towards the front door. Naruto followed the nod and saw numerous shoes placed neatly by the wall.

As Naruto took his shoes off, Izanami told the manservant to prepare a room for Nobuhiro's new teacher. He bowed and left the room to make preparations.

Izanami turned back to Naruto and said, "Zhou is busy at the moment, but I can assure you that he will be happy to speak with you as soon as possible."

"No problem!" Naruto grinned as the sound of footsteps approached. Suddenly, two little girls and two dogs of equal height came rushing at Izanami. When they reached her, the children hugged her at the same time while the dogs went to sniff Naruto.

"Mommy! Where were you?" the taller one asked.

"Yeah!" the other agreed. "You were gone for awhile!"

"I'm sorry if I worried you, girls," Izanami hugged them back before she turned to introduce Naruto. "Girls, this is Nobuhiro's new teacher, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto-kun, these are Nobuhiro's sisters, Chiharu and Harumi."

"Nice to meet you!" Naruto said with a huge grin on his face.

"Mommy," Chiharu said, "why didn't he bow?"

Harumi continued saying, "Yeah. Everyone else bows. Do they not have to bow?"

Naruto stared at the two as they stared back. He had no idea that people bowed to these kids just because they were the Hyoga head's daughters! He had a lot to learn about the Hyoga's if he was going to stay there for the mission.

"Girls," Izanami explained, "Naruto-kun is from a different village and doesn't know any Hyoga customs."

The two gasped. "Really?" they both asked. "But they're so much fun!"

Chiharu grabbed Naruto's right hand and Harumi took his left. "Come on! We'll teach you!"

The girls dragged Naruto up the stairs. Izanami smiled as they disappeared. The two dogs that had been sniffing Naruto ran after the three until they reached a certain door. The dogs pawed at the door and Naruto grew curious.

"Hey," he said. The girls stopped and looked up at Naruto. "What's behind that door?"

"That's big brother's room!" Harumi smiled when she mentioned 'big brother.' Naruto got the impression that the younger siblings liked their brother very much.

"Nami and Tama are Nobuhiro's pets," Chiharu explained. "He got them as a gift from a shinobi that used to look after him."

The door opened and the dogs rushed in.

"Buhi-kun!" Harumi shouted. The door stopped closing, widened and Nobuhiro stuck his head out. When he saw Naruto with his sisters, he scowled.

"What are you doing here?" Nobuhiro was incredibly cold when he talked to Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and I didn't have any place to stay for the night, so we decided to stay at our student's houses."

"Then stay at someone else's house," Nobuhiro began to shut the door.

"If we all stayed at one house, we'd be a burden!" Naruto shouted.

Nobuhiro paused in shutting the door to glare at Naruto and hiss, "You think you're not a burden here? Trust me. If you don't leave on your own, I will make sure you leave in a casket."

"I could kick your ass if I wanted to!" Naruto responded with great passion. "Stop acting like you own the world and that everyone else is an insignificant worm when compared to you! You're pissing me off!"

There was a pause.

"Feel better now?" Nobuhiro asked. He slammed the door on a very angry Naruto.

"Grr! How can anyone like him?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Well," Chiharu answered, "he makes us laugh sometimes."

"Yeah," Harumi giggled. "You do that, too."

Naruto turned to them. "What do you mean?"

Chiharu giggled with her. "Your face was so funny!"

"And no one has ever said a curse in front of us!" Harumi pointed out.

They took Naruto's hands again. "Don't worry!" they said as they dragged Naruto around the house. "You'll find a way to deal with Buhi-kun!"

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I'm sorry this chapter took a while. I think it went well, though. Please tell me if you agree or not. Just a reminder, more character's will show up. I hope to have all of them appear in the next chapter. If not that one, definitely the next!

Author time! Ok, right now, I'm listening to Vertigo by U2. Anyone like that band? They seem to have been forgotten by everyone I ask. Anyway, I'll try and update before January is over, but don't be pissed if it's late. Have a Happy New Year! I hope this year holds a bounty of wonderful fanfiction that you read and enjoy for the rest of the year! Bye!


	4. Mission 1

Okay, are you guys ready for some action? I said last time that all of the characters would be introduced in either this chapter or the next. Sorry, but it turns out there's too much information and events I still have to put in. You might see them in the next chapter, but most likely the chapter after that. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update! I promise the next chapter will be out sooner than this one was! Alrighty then! Here you go!

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Sakura yawned and stretched her arms. She had had a good night's sleep and was actually looking forward to meeting up with the others.

When she stepped down, her feet landed on something furry. There was a whimper and Sakura quickly lifted her feet. Etto dove under Orori's blanket to escape the terror that was Sakura's feet. However, Orori was still asleep when the ferret crawled under her sheets and onto her arm. Orori gave a shriek and shot awake when Etto's claws accidently dug into her arm. Etto ran back into his corner, curling into a ball for some defense against the scary teenage girls.

Orori looked around and saw Sakura staring between her and Etto. The two began apologizing for waking/scaring the other. Both of them stopped when they realized the other was also apologizing. After a second or two, they smiled at one another and began laughing. Even though they had only know each other for one day, they already felt like good friends.

Etto whimpered again. Orori went to him, scooped him up in her arms and began cooing about how he would be alright and everything was okay.

Things were finally calming down when Kitsu pushed the door open from the outside. In her mouth was a clock. She looked up at Sakura and nudged her leg with the clock. Sakura took the clock from Kitsu and looked at the time.

Her eyes widened. "Orori!" she shouted. "We're going to be late!"

The girls quickly changed and gathered their things. Kitsu and Etto were a huge help in finding things and packing them. Orori went into the kitchen in hopes of finding a quick breakfast while Sakura looked around.

"Where's your dad?" Sakura looked all around for the man, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Or Maru?"

"They already left for the Hyoga mansion," Orori said while pulling out some cereal boxes, thought about it, then shoved them back into the pantry and continued looking.

Sakura turned to her. "They work for the Hyogas?"

"Mmhm. The Hyogas don't want all of their guards to have the same abilities. They've hired people from a bunch of different clans. Everyone living in this building is serving or will serve the Hyoga clan," Orori finally pulled out some bread and began spreading jam on it. "Sorry, but I don't think we have time for toast. We'll have to settle for Breakfast Sandwiches."

"Wait," All of the new information was swirling through Sakura's head. "You mean, everyone?"

Orori nodded.

"Doesn't that mean you'll eventually serve Nobuhiro?!"

She paused, but recovered within seconds. "If I reach Jonin level, yes," she muttered.

"Is that why you don't want to be a shinobi?"

"No way! I've got other reasons. My fear of blood, my mom's death- all sorts of reasons!"

Orori handed one of the sandwiches to Sakura. She took it, but it was clear she was still processing what she had just learned.

"Don't think about it," Orori said as she opened the door. "I don't and I get by just fine."

Sakura nodded. Kitsu rubbed against her leg. She looked down and smiled. Sakura knew she would have to be in a good mood to be prepared for what the day most likely held.

"Alright then!" Sakura stepped through the doorway and turned towards Orori.

"What's todays goal?!" Sakura shouted.

Orori laughed. "Getting Kenji and Nobuhiro to get along?"

"Hell yeah!" Sakura smiled as they closed the door behind them. Nothing could ruin her mood now. Or so she thought.

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Naruto was kind of groggy when he woke up. He tried to sit up but couldn't bring himself to leave the comfortable bed. Although he had no idea what the mattress or sheets were made of, he knew that he wanted one for his own apartment.

He finally convinced himself to get up. As he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, there was a knock on the door. Naruto grunted and the door was opened by a servant he hadn't met the previous night. It didn't surprise him, though. The house was so big, they probably had five servants for each person in the house.

"Uzumaki-san," the lady smiled at him. "I hope you had a good nights sleep. Lady Hyoga wanted to let you know that breakfast has been prepared. I am here to tell you where anything you need is."

Naruto stared at her. He certainly wasn't used to being waited on, but a few more days like this and he wouldn't know any other way to live.

"Where's the food?" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his eyes again.

"When you are dressed, I will escort you to the room Lady Hyoga is dining in," she explained. "I normally would have brought you your food, but Lady Hyoga has requested your presence."

Naruto stood up and walked to his bag. He reached in for his clothes and realized that it was empty.

"We took the liberty of unpacking your things."

Naruto quickly turned to see that the servant was still standing there. He stared at her for a minute, wondering why she was still there. Then, he remembered one of the many customs Chiharu and Harumi told him: servants never left unless you dismissed them.

"Um," Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "you can wait outside now."

She bowed and closed the door as she left. Naruto walked to the closet, took out his clothes and got dressed.

When he opened the door, the servant bowed to him yet again. Naruto loved everything else, but the constant bowing and attention was getting annoying.

The lady brought Naruto into a large room with a long table and numerous chairs. The room connected into what was obviously a kitchen and the smell of all kinds of foods wafted through the air. Lady Hyoga sat near the head of the table with Chiharu and Harumi on her left. Tama and Nami were sitting in a corner, eating what looked like a massive assortment of meat.

"Nari-kun!" Chiharu and Harumi smiled at Naruto and waved for him to come and sit with them. He smiled back and went to sit across from them.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," Izanami smiled at him and signaled for another servant to come to Naruto. "Is there anything you would like for breakfast?"

Naruto was tempted to say ramen, but didn't know if he should while staying at such a fancy place.

"Ask for anything you want," Izanami insisted as if she could read Naruto's mind.

He shrugged, "What the heck?! Can I have a bowl of ramen?"

The girls stared at him but Izanami smiled and told the servant, "Please see if the cooks are willing to make ramen this early."

After the servant left, Izanami faced Naruto and asked, "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept really well, thank you," Naruto replied.

The four talked about all kinds of things, learning more about one another with every sentence. Before he knew it, there was a large bowl of ramen in front of him.

As he gulped it down, Izanami asked, "So, when will you be leaving to meet with the rest of your team?"

"When Nobuhiro wakes up," Naruto said as he finished his ramen.

"Nobuhiro already woke up," Harumi said as she ate her rolled omelet.

"I've never seen anyone eat ramen that fast!" Chiharu shouted, unable to look away from Naruto's dish.

"Do you know where he is?" Naruto asked.

The three girls exchanged glances. "Naruto-kun," Izanami began, "when do you need to be with your group?"

"About 8. Why?"

"Mommy! Nobuhiro lied!" Harumi yelled.

"He said they didn't have to be there until 10 and that he was just leaving early!" Chiharu exclaimed.

"HE WHAT?!" Naruto looked around the room in search of a clock. A servant ran out of the room and was back within seconds with a very nice one. Naruto looked at the time and screamed, "That little-!"

Naruto ran out of the room as fast as he could. As he ran out the front door, he heard a servant yell, "Uzumaki-san! Your shoes!"

Before the servant knew what had happened, the shoes he was holding disappeared and Naruto vanished.

Even though he knew it was dangerous, Naruto was putting his shoes on while running.

"That damn brat!" he grumbled. Today was going to suck, Naruto could tell.

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Naruto opened the door to the mission assignment room, panting. "You bastard..." he gasped.

Everyone except Nobuhiro stared at Naruto.

"Naruto," Kakashi finally said. "Glad you could make it. Nobuhiro told us you didn't feel well and would stay at his house."

"I. Feel. Fine," Naruto growled as he walked over to his team. Nobuhiro's eyebrow creased and he turned, as if the very sight of Naruto was pissing him off.

Naruto saw this and got ready to hit him over the head. Fortunately (for who, I'm not sure), the mayor of the town cleared his throat.

"Well, as I was saying," he said in a raspy voice, "Team 5, here are your assignments for today."

Kakashi took the list and then handed it to Sakura. "Sakura, will you take care of this? I need to talk with Susumu-san about something."

Sakura nodded. She wondered if this something had to do with the Uchihas or warning them about Sasuke's potential arrival.

The five walked to the building entrance as Sakura looked over the list.

Sakura looked up from the list and said, "Alright, there are five assignments for us today. Little things, but we all start somewhere."

"Should we wait for Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Kenji stared at Naruto. "You call a fellow teacher sensei?"

"Of course!" Naruto grinned. "He taught me long before you guys were even born!"

The others stared at him. Sakura hit her forehead. "Naruto, how young do you think these Genin are?"

Naruto stared at her in confusion.

"You know what? Never mind," Sakura sighed. "Let's start without Kakashi-sensei. He knows where we're headed. He can meet up with us there."

Five assignments was plenty, Sakura thought. The Genin would be kept so busy there would be no time for arguing. They may even connect!

Oh, the wishful thinking...

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Five assignments later, eleven fights had passed and the twelfth was just starting.

Sakura was rubbing her temples and Naruto was doing his very best not to explode (AN: not with words, I mean really explode. You think I'm kidding? I can make that happen.)

The reasons for all of the fights stemmed from Nobuhiro's insults and Kenji's inability to let it slide along with him coupled with Orori's utter lacking in trying to help resolve any problems the two boys had. But, even knowing these reasons, neither one of the teachers could think of a way to stop the conflicts.

Kenji charged at Nobuhiro and let out a barrage of punches. Nobuhiro blocked each one, stepping backwards from each punch as Kenji tried to shorten the distance between them. Frustrated, Kenji raised his leg in an attempt to land a drop kick on Nobuhiro's head. Nobuhiro raised his arms in the shape of an X, one step ahead of Kenji. The kick fell into the X. Nobuhiro used this to grab hold of Kenji's leg and lifted it higher in the air. This caused Kenji to lose his balance and fall on his back.

Orori ran to Kenji's side. "Are you alright, Kenji?"

Kenji winced in pain as he pushed himself up, ignoring Orori's concern and preparing to attack Nobuhiro once more. The young Hyoga slid into a defensive position to be ready for whatever Kenji was going to do next.

However, the fight was interrupted as a cloud of smoke formed in between the two Genin.

Kakashi smiled at the other two sensei. "Sorry I took so long, guys. On my way here there was an old woman struggling with some shopping bags and I had to-" Kakashi glanced to his left and saw Kenji still waiting to attack. He turned to his right and saw Nobuhiro still in his defensive position. Turning back and forth from the two for a few seconds, Kakashi asked, "Did I interrupt some friendly sparring?"

"It was far from friendly," Sakura said, still massaging her temples. This was becoming to much for her to handle. She half-wished she could just fail them. However, the thought of seeing Sasuke again was enough for her to put up with this.

"Oh," Kakashi said as he moved towards Sakura and Naruto. "I see..." He stared at the two again as he thought about something.

"Well then!" Kakashi suddenly exclaimed. "I think I know just how to get rid of this urge to rip one another to pieces!"

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"How is this helping us?" Kenji yelled down from the paint lift.

"Painting is a very soothing activity!" Kakashi shouted from the bench Naruto, Orori and Sakura were sitting on. "Besides, this house needed new paint and I volunteered our team to do it!"

"So why isn't she helping?" Nobuhiro nodded in Orori's direction without looking away from his work.

"Because she wasn't being an ass!" Naruto shouted back. Everyone except Nobuhiro stared at Naruto for a few seconds.

Kenji sighed and went back to painting his part of the wall. He glanced at Nobuhiro. Kenji knew that Kakashi was doing this so that the two of them could try to work together and sort out any issues they had with one another. The only problem was that Kenji didn't want to apologize. He hadn't done anything wrong... at least, nothing he could think of. Still, Kenji knew that someone had to be the bigger man. He sighed and turned to Nobuhiro.

"Look," he paused for a moment, but then continued, "you and I both know that Kakashi wants us to use this to help get past our differences. So... I don't know... wanna start over?"

Nobuhiro continued painting as if Kenji hadn't said anything. Kenji sighed in frustration. He turned back to the wall, but quickly turned back to his teammate.

"The thing is, I don't even know what you're so upset about!" Kenji exclaimed. He knew that the others couldn't hear them, so he went on. "You treat everyone like crap. And normally, I wouldn't care! But the thing is, we're a team! We have to at least try and get along!"

Nobuhiro refused to acknowledge Kenji, who turned back to the wall and began painting again. There was a silence between them that seemed to last for hours. Finally, Nobuhiro said something.

"Why do you want this team to stay together?"

Kenji hadn't been expecting him to say anything, let alone that. He thought about it for a moment. Why _did_ he want this team to stay together?

"I guess it's because I kind of like this team. Even if you're a huge jerk, there are some good qualities about this team."

A scoff was Nobuhiro's only response. Kenji glared at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

When he said nothing, Kenji asked, "What?"

With a sigh, Nobuhiro dipped his paintbrush back into the can of paint and said, "I am the only one actually trying to be a shinobi on this team."

"What does that mean?" Kenji stared at him, waiting for a response.

"It means," the Hyoga said without stopping his painting, "that I think the girl and you aren't serious about being shinobi."

"Then tell me," Kenji wasn't trying to hide his anger as he said, "why would I be here if I didn't want to be a ninja?"

Nobuhiro glanced at the bench. "Like you said, there are some good qualities about this team."

"Why don't you just say whatever it is you want to say?" Kenji was practically yelling now. The four sitting below them looked up to see what the commotion was about.

"Fine," Nobuhiro put his brush down and met Kenji's glare with a cold look. "I'll tell you why I think you're here. I know you're only interested in one thing."

"And what's that?"

"Screwing your teammate."

That was the last straw. Kenji tackled Nobuhiro and the two started fighting on the scaffolding.

Their team rose from the bench. None of them had actually heard anything the two had said, but the fist fighting was beginning to concern them.

Naruto made a move to stop them. However, Kakashi put a hand in front of him.

"Let them work this out," was all he said.

Back on the scaffolding, Kenji was fighting recklessly as Nobuhiro dodged all of his attacks.

"Is that really what you think?!" Kenji shouted as he punched at Nobuhiro's face.

As he easily avoided it, Nobuhiro asked, "Trying to tell me it's not true?"

Kenji continued his punches and kicks as he said, "That's the farthest you can get from the truth!"

Nobuhiro wasn't buying it. "So why do you always defend her when I insult her? She can stand up for herself."

"But you know she won't! You know that and you still treat her like she's worthless."

"Because she is. That's the horrible truth."

"Maybe as a shinobi, she's not the best. But that doesn't make her worthless."

"In my book it does."

Kenji swung another punch at Nobuhiro's face and fell forward as Nobuhiro dodged. He used this to his advantage. As he fell, Kenji grabbed Nobuhiro's shirt and dragged him to the ground as well. Nobuhiro, not expecting this, was temporarily stunned. Kenji grabbed Nobuhiro's neck and pushed it against the scaffolding floor. He pulled out a kunai and held it to Nobuhiro's throat. Nobuhiro smirked as Kenji panted for air.

"Look," Kenji said between gasps, "let's make a deal. You stop insulting Orori and try to get along with the rest of us."

"Why?"

"Because if you do, I can guarantee we'll improve," Kenji said. This didn't seem to motivate Nobuhiro, so Kenji added. "If we become even better shinobi, it means we'll be able to take the Chunin exams and you can move up in ninja rank much more quickly."

"Hmph," Nobuhiro said as he pushed Kenji off of him. "Like I care about my rank."

Back at the bench, everyone was tense, waiting to see what would happen next. Well, all but Kakashi, who heard a clock chime and realized something.

Kakashi shouted up to the two Genin, "Are you almost finished? We have to get ready for our next mission!"

Everyone turned to Kakashi. "Next mission?" Sakura said.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi stared at them. "Did I not tell you? That's what I was talking to Susumu-san about. In one hour, we have to leave for the Tanaka Ryokan. They have a bad rat infestation and I figured a trip was just what this group needed!"

"We're going outside of the village for a mission?!" Kenji exclaimed with glee.

"I have to go tell my father!" Orori said as she ran off.

"Oh, right!" Kenji jumped of the scaffolding and ran in the direction his house was in. Nobuhiro glared at Kakashi, but quickly disappeared.

"Kakashi," Sakura turned to face him again. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "You saw what just happened. Do you really think forcing them to spend a lot of time together is the best idea?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Sakura, you didn't like Naruto when Team 7 first formed. Now you two are closer than ever. And Naruto! You couldn't stand Sasuke when you first started training with him. Look at you now. You are doing everything you can to bring him home. All of you grew close because you spent time with one another."

Naruto and Sakura smiled as they looked back on all they had been through when they were in Team 7. It was true, the more time they'd spent together, the closer they became.

"Trust me," Kakashi interrupted their reminiscing. "This is for the best. Everything will work out fine."

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Naruto couldn't believe it (if you can believe that). Kakashi and Sakura were checking everyone in, Kenji and Orori were hanging out, Nobuhiro was falling asleep in one of the chairs in the entrance of the inn; there was no tension anywhere. They looked like a team that always got along. He still didn't know what Kenji and Nobuhiro had fought about, but whatever it had been had obviously solved something. Well, Nobuhiro was still being a jerk, but Kenji had actually reached out to Nobuhiro more than once on the way to the inn. The two days it took to get to the inn had gone by with only minor arguing, no fists or any physical violence. Naruto stared in awe.

As he thought about it, Naruto was starting to see some similarities between Team 7 and Team 5. The more he looked, the more he saw Kenji as himself, Orori as Sakura and Nobuhiro as... No, not yet. Nobuhiro still had a ways to go before Naruto would compare him to Sasuke.

"Alright everyone!" Kakashi said, keys dangling from his fingers. "We're all checked in and ready to head to our rooms!"

Everyone gathered up their bags and headed upstairs. Orori had brought her fox and ferret and the two were running ahead of everybody. They stopped in front of a door and Kakashi smiled. He opened it with one of the keys and the two pets rushed in.

"Wow, Genin, come check out this room," Kakashi said. The three walked in and looked around. There was a bed, a couch and a door that led to a very nice bathroom. The room was made up of different shades of blue, from indigo bed sheets to sky blue walls. It had a very neat and relaxing atmosphere. "Nice, right?"

"Yeah," Kenji said as he looked around.

Orori fell backwards onto the bed. "Mmhm..." she agreed. Nobuhiro continued looking around in silence.

"I'm glad you like it," Kakashi said, "because the three of you will be staying in this room for our stay here!"

Everyone stared at Kakashi, some with shock and others with disgust.

"Kakashi!" Naruto screamed. "You're going to cram these Genin into a room with only one bed?!"

"And a couch!" Kakashi corrected. "Besides, our budget only allowed for two rooms: one for the sensei and one for the students."

"Kakashi," Sakura said her next sentence slowly so that Kakashi would understand what she was implying, "what about Orori?"

He sighed and shook his head as if to say Sakura-of-course-I-thought-of-that. "Sakura, are you trying to say something bad about our male Genin?"

That one sentence made the three students the most uncomfortable they had ever been in their entire lives. Orori looked like she wanted to sink into the bed and disappear. Kenji was blushing and looking around the room like an idiot. Even Nobuhiro averted his gaze to the window and refused to look back.

Kakashi turned to the students and quickly asked, "Boys, you do know to give Orori all the privacy she needs, right?"

The boys mumbled something back and Orori looked as if she might actually succeed in disappearing into the bed.

"Perfect!" Kakashi smiled as he grabbed the doorknob. "Well, then, we'll see you three tomorrow!" And with that, Kakashi slammed the door on the uncomfortable Genin.

Kakashi quickly opened the door to the room next to the Genin's room and dropped his bags the second he entered the room. Much to Naruto's delight, this room had been designed around the color orange. But now was not the time to be admiring the hotel's color scheme.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said as she walked up to him. He was now leaning against the wall that divided the two rooms and had his ear pressed against it. "What the hell are you thinking? Do you have any idea how uncomfortable you've just made them?!"

"I'm starting to get a good idea," Kakashi whispered. The two stared at him and realized what he was doing.

"How could you?" Sakura exclaimed. "Not only do you embarrass them but now you're spying on them?!"

"What have I missed?" Naruto asked as he placed his ear against the wall as well.

Sakura looked at the two in disgust. She couldn't believe that the two of them were going to invade their students privacy after embarrassing them in front of one another. Although... she had to admit... she was becoming more and more curious with every giggle that came from Naruto and Kakashi.

"Move over," she said to Naruto as she joined them. Those poor students...

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After Kakashi closed the door, there was an awkward silence between the three team mates. No one wanted to be the first to speak, but they all knew someone was going to have to break the silence.

"I'm.. uh.. going to go change," Orori rose from the bed and grabbed her bag. Kitsu grabbed the bathroom door handle with her mouth and opened it for her master. When Orori closed the door, Etto jumped onto the bed and curled up to fall asleep. Kitsu, however, sat in front of the bathroom door and stared at the boys as if she expected them to suddenly try attacking her.

Kenji heard the sink's water running and when he was sure Orori wouldn't hear him, turned to talk to Nobuhiro. The Hyoga had pushed the window open and was sitting on the window sill with his back leaning against the window frame. It looked like he was trying to sleep.

"So Nobuhiro-" Kenji began talking but was interrupted by Nobuhiro's glare.

"I. Am. Sleeping."

Kenji didn't care. "Listen, while we were traveling, you seemed to be... well... less bastard-like. I know you were probably doing it because I asked you to, so I want to thank you somehow."

"Let me sleep."

"Oh, come on! There has to be more to it! I mean, you must want-"

"I've told you what I want. Sleep!"

Kenji shut up and Nobuhiro sighed with relief. Perhaps too soon. "Hey, Nobuhiro," Kenji ignored the crease in Nobuhiro's eyebrows and went on, "were you really being such an ass because you thought I wanted to... you know... with Orori?"

"Kenji, I really don't want to-"

"'Cause if so, that kind of makes it seem like you're interested in Oro-"

Nobuhiro's eyes shot open. He grabbed Kenji by the collar of his shirt and brought their faces close together. "I have no interest in her. You seem to only be focusing on what I dislike about you and not what I dislike about her. I've told you, she's completely worthless. And now you're trying to say that I like her? The last thing I want is everyone in the village thinking I'd actually love a failure like her. Besides, the heir of the Hyoga clan is supposed to marry within the clan. I don't need a fake scandal interfering with my training. So, please, never say anything of that sort _ever_ again."

The bathroom door handle turned. Kitsu stopped staring at the spectacle and moved to avoid being hit by the door. Nobuhiro let go of Kenji and leaned against the window pane again.

Orori stepped into the room and saw Etto sleeping on the bed. "Etto! What if someone else wants to sleep there?"

"Don't worry about it, Orori," Kenji assured her. "I was going to sleep on the couch anyway. And Nobuhiro seems fine right where he is."

She looked at the window and gasped. "Are you sure he'll be alright? Do you think he won't fall off?"

The thought hadn't crossed Kenji's mind. He turned to his teammate, "She's got a point, Nob-"

Nobuhiro slapped Kenji across the face so hard that the boy slid over the floor until he hit the opposite wall.

"What the hell?!" Kenji shouted. His hand rubbed the sore spot on his cheek.

Orori looked from Kenji to Nobuhiro. "Nobuhiro, are you sure you'll be alright? You can sleep on the bed if you want."

"I normally sleep on the window sill," the young Hyoga answered. "Even at home. Now quit nagging and go to bed."

"Hey-" Kenji began.

"It's ok, Kenji. Nobuhiro's right. We should all go to bed."

Orori slid under the bed overs. Kenji sighed and walked to the couch. His female teammate threw him a blanket and the two settled down quickly.

Back in the orange room, the three sensei stood up and thought about what they had heard.

"Wait a sec," Naruto said. "Was that fight on the scaffolding about Kenji and Orori?!"

"It would seem so," Kakashi muttered. He seemed focused on one thing.

Sakura thought about Nobuhiro's attitude. The way she saw it, Nobuhiro was more lenient with Kenji because the two had confronted one another about their issues and Nobuhiro's problem had been dispelled. If she was right, the only thing they had to do to get Orori and Nobuhiro getting along was for Orori to show that she was, in fact, worthy of being called a shinobi. That shouldn't be too hard.

"Anyway," Kakashi said softly, "we need to focus on our real mission."

Naruto and Sakura sat on the bed as Kakashi paced back and forth. "Kenji doesn't personally know the Uchihas, but he did have class with them when they were in the academy. Sakura? Naruto? What have you two gotten?"

"Orori doesn't know them very well, either. However, two of her friends are in the same cells as the Uchihas. We might be able to form some connection from that."

"Izanami, Nobuhiro's mother, says that the Uchihas visit them every so often. They haven't come over yet, but then again, we've only been there for two days. She said they wouldn't come over while we were away and if they did, she wanted to introduce them to me and would ask them to come again soon so that they could meet me."

"Alright," Kakashi began forming a plan with this new information. "Sakura, try and get Orori to invite her friends over and ask them about the Uchihas. Remember, any information, anything at all, is vital. Naruto, find out when the Uchihas are visiting Nobuhiro. When you do, try to work it out so that Sakura and I are there when they visit."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura interjected.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's just... I... I can't help but..."

Naruto stared at Sakura. She couldn't be giving up hope. This was Sasuke! Nothing would stop them at all!

"I understand, Sakura," Kakashi stopped her. "It's hard to put all of your hopes on a maybe."

He leaned in and smiled at her. "But don't worry. Even if this does lead to a dead end, that doesn't mean we'll stop searching for him. Sai is still following Sasuke's trail. If anything happens, he'll let us know."

And with that, Kakashi crawled under the bed covers. Sakura grinned, her fear temporarily dispelled. Maybe things could work out. They just had to stay hopeful. Hopeful...

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Like I said, I'm sorry that it took so long to update and the characters introduction had to get pushed off, but I swear, the next chapter will be updated sooner! Your characters have not been forgotten!!!


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